Sound reproducing unit

ABSTRACT

A voice or sound unit adapted for use on toys and the like has a mechanical linkage system with a joint capable of transmitting sound indicia while isolating the tone arm from any absorption of stylus movement. The tone arm can employ flexure hinges to insure a constant force on the stylus. A planetary gear coupling system provides a unique drive transmission to either a single turntable or a pair of concentric turntables. If a pair of turntables are used, they can be relatively rotated to combine a large number of sound sequences.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to improvements in a voice or sound unit which iscapable of producing sounds, for example, of the type associated withtoys and the like. In particular, the present invention relates toimprovements in both the arrangement of component parts and thestructural design of the parts to provide ease of manufacturing,improved sound quality and a new form of voice unit highly adaptable tonumerous applications.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Phonographs and other forms of sound producing devices can be broadlydescribed as voice units and have found numerous applicationsparticularly in the field of toys. Voice units have been utilized invarious forms of talking dolls, music boxes, games, etc. Early examplesof the use of mechanically acutated voice units can be found in theFranklin U.S. Pat. No. 1,979,067, Shulman U.S. Pat. No. 1,837,076 andHunter U.S. Pat. No. 1,485,137.

In the quest to provide high fidelity sound reproduction with relativelyinexpensive parts, various components of voice units have been subjectto considerable design efforts. For example, various mechanicalarrangements have been utilized for the release of stored energy usuallyfrom a source such as a spring. Examples of these arrangements can befound in the Poppe U.S. Pat. No. 1,494,802, Folk U.S. Pat. No.1,503,787, Grubman U.S. Pat. No. 1,979,068 and Marshall U.S. Pat. No.3,568,802. Since the quality of sound reproduction is directly relatedto the speaker cone, efforts have been made to provide various improvedspeaker cone configurations and mounting arrangements within the voiceunit's housing such as the Chang U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,448. In addition,various forms of spring biased tone arms have been suggested andutilized in the prior art such as the tone arm disclosed in theScoparino U.S. Pat. No. 3,235,266.

Recently, talking dolls have enjoyed considerable commercial success byemploying a multi-speech voice unit that is activated by a pull string.Basically, this comprises the use of a multi-spirally tracked record ona spring driven turntable. Multi-track records have been known in theprior art for a considerable period of time, for example, in the recordsdisclosed in the Berliner U.S. Pat. No. 936,976, Abramson U.S. Pat. No.2,703,241, Winchell U.S. Pat. No. 3,110,501, Haltenhof U.S. Pat. No.2,287,240, and Michetti U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,690. Various examples ofmulti-speech voice units can be found such as the Greenlee, Jr. U.S.Pat. No. 3,325,916, Weld U.S. Pat. No. 2,680,150 and Ryan U.S. Pat. Nos.3,017,187 and 3,082,006.

Besides the use of spirally grooved records, the prior art has alsoresorted to tapes and rotating drums that are frequently driven byeither mechanical means or electrical motors such as the Freeman et alU.S. Pat. No. 3,239,229 and the Poylo et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,947,978.

Basically, the prior art has experienced some limited success inproviding mechanically actuated voice units having a relatively limitedvocabulary. However, the provision of a compact, relatively inexpensivevoice unit having a relatively large number of sentences that arereproducible in a distortionfree manner has eluded the prior art todate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a novel sound unit embodying a number offeatures which insure a high fidelity sound reproduction at a relativelylow cost. The sound unit speaker system employs a unique speaker conehaving a mechanical linkage system for transmitting sound indicia from arecording medium. The speaker cone can be molded to accept either a balljoint or flexure hinge connection to a uniquely isolated stylus arm.

Flexure hinges are utilized on the tone arm to isolate the mechanicallink system for the transmission of the sound producing motion to thespeaker cone. The particular mounting of a tone arm tension springallows relatively large movements of the tone arm with very smallchanges in spring pressure exerted against the record grooves.

A planetary gear coupling system provides a unique drive transmissionbetween a spring drive and either a single turntable or inner and outerturntables. If inner and outer turntables are used, a pair of recordscan be relatively moved to provide a large number of sound sequences.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel areset forth with particularity in the appended claims. The presentinvention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, togetherwith further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood byreference to the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is the first of a series of three drawings that collectivelydisclose an exploded perspective view of the voice unit of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is the second drawing of the series of three drawings showing anexploded perspective view;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the underside carrier portion of theturntable disclosed as one of the components in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is the third drawing of the series of three drawings showing anexploded perspective view of the voice unit of the present invention,FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 can be aligned in sequential order to disclose thefull exploded view of the components of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side cross sectional view of an assemblied voice unit;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the tone arm with a side wall cut awayto disclose a bias spring;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the turntables with records mounted thereon andparts broken away to disclose the operative positions of the planetarygear;

FIG. 7 is a partial side cross sectional view of the tone arm andrecords;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the voice unit with parts broken away todisclose the operative positions of the tone arm and reset arms; and

FIG. 9 is a side cross sectional view of an alternative embodiment ofthe linkage system of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:

The following description is provided to enable any person skilled inthe art to make and use the invention and it sets forth the best modecontemplated by the inventors of carrying out their invention. Variousmodifications, however, will be made readily apparent to those skilledin the art since the generic principles of the present invention havebeen defined herein specifically to provide a relatively economical andeasily assemblied voice unit.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 2A, and 3, the various elements of the presentinvention will be described in a sequential manner to assist the readerin understanding the invention. Most of the component parts utilized inthe voice unit 2 of the present invention can be molded from variousplastics but other material can be utilized within the parameters of theinvention.

A speaker grill 4 is provided primarily to protect a speaker cone 6. Thespeaker grill 4 has a conical shape with an array of circular holes tofacilitate the transmission of sounds from the speaker cone 6. The outerperipheral edge of the speaker grill 4 is flat and is adapted to seatupon the speaker cone rim 8. Alternatively, the grill 4 can beintegrally molded with an upper or top housing member 10. The speakercone 6 is mounted along its rim 8 to the upper or top housing member 10,for example, by an appropriate solvent adhesive. The center or apex tip12 of the speaker cone 6 has preferably a spherical female ball jointshape with an interior opening on the concave side of the cone 6. Thepurpose of the spherical ball joint tip 12 will be discussedsubsequently.

Concentric ring protrusions or grooves 14 positioned on the surface ofthe speaker cone 6 about the peripheral rim 8 are provided to insure anacoustical resonance in the mounting of the speaker cone 6 and toimprove the sound producing qualities of the speaker cone 6. The ringgrooves 14 provide the maximum flexibility to the peripheral portions tothe speaker cone 6 thereby permitting the maximum amount of cone soundinducing movement. The result is to induce speaker cone 6 movement whichwill lower the resonant characteristics of the voice unit 2. The speakercone is preferably as light as possible and can be vacuum or pressureformed from a sheet of thin heated plastic in an appropriate mold.

The top housing member 10 includes an alignment rim 16 for receiving thespeaker grill 4. The alignment rim 16 surrounds a support flange 18which is adapted to receive the speaker cone rim 8 and accordinglycenter the speaker cone 6 in the housing member 10. An appropriateadhesive can be positioned on the support flange 18 for securing thespeaker cone 6 to the top housing member 10.

As one method of fastening the voice unit 2 together a series ofcylindrical securement bosses or columns 20 are mounted on the interiorof the top housing member 10. In the disclosed embodiment, four of thesebosses 20 are arranged about the internal peripheray of the top housingmember 10 and are adapted to receive thread inserts (not shown) forcoacting with appropriate fasteners such as screws (not shown).Alternatively, the voice unit 2 can simply be glued together with anappropriate solvent. A shoulder 22 extends substantially around theinterior of an outer wall 24 of the top housing 10 for alignment with amatching component of a lower housing member. A semi-circular notch 26is provided on a ramp 28 of the outer wall 24 and is designed to receivea guide sleeve or eyelet 30 for permitting the relative movement of apull string 32 into and out of the voice unit 2. A pull ring 34 can beconveniently attached to the pull string 32 both to assist an operatorin applying a force to the pull string 32 and further to serve as a stopor limit to the movement of the pull string 32 into the voice unit 2 bycontacting the ramp 28. Finally, a semi-circular top governor housingcavity portion 36 is integrally molded into the outer wall 24 of the tophousing member 10.

A reset arm retainer plug 38 includes an upper circular flange 40 thatsupports a cross sectionally X-shaped spring retainer 42 having acantilevered leg 44. The center helix of a reset arm spring 46 isadapted to fit over and be retained by the cantilevered leg 44.

The reset arm 48 has an appropriate bore 50 for receiving the reset armretainer plug 38. The reset arm retainer plug 38 is adapted to bepress-fitted within an appropriate bore 52 mounted on the motor coverplate 54 as seen in FIG. 2. Alternatively, the plug 38 and bore 52 canbe designed to provide a snap-in engagement or re-designed to remove thenecessity of a plug 38, for example, by having the reset arm 48 directlysnapped into the motor cover plate 54. The assembly and alignment ofeach of the respective parts of the voice unit 2 can be determined fromthe dotted trace lines.

The reset arm 48 has an appropriate cam ramp 56 adjacent a movementlimiting pawl 58. The reset arm spring 46 has one spring end attached toa side exterior surface of the reset arm 48 and another spring endadapted to be held stationary by a spring support member 60 extendingupward from the surface of the motor cover plate 54. The permissiblemovement of the reset arm 48 is determined by the coaction of the pawl58 with the tone arm 62. The pull string 32 passes through a hole 64 ina lower flange 66 of the reset arm 48.

Referring again to the motor cover plate 54 of FIG. 2, the bore 52 forreceiving the retainer plug 38 is located in a tubular support member 68having a lower flange 70 to provide a bearing surface for the pivotalmovement of the reset arm 48. A vertical wall member 72 can serve as astop or limit to the pivotal movement of the reset arm 48 by contactinga portion of the reset arm 48 adjacent the flange 66. A retainer plate74 is elevated from the surface of the motor cover plate 54 and has agrooved bore 76 adapted to receive stud 78 shown in FIG. 3 which alsoprovides a pivotal connection to the tone arm 62 when it passes througha bore 80 in the tone arm 62. The retainer plate 74 maintains the tonearm 62 on the stud 78.

A peripheral notch 82, a retaining ear 84 and a hole (not shown),located behind the retaining plate 74 in FIG. 2, provide alignmentpoints for the motor cover plate 54 when it is mounted within the lowerhousing member 86 shown in FIG. 3. An alignment hole 88 in the motorcover plate 54 and an additional alignment hole 90 in a governor housingmember 92 are adapted to align appropriate shafts of components to bediscussed subsequently. A wedge shaped opening 94 is provided in themotor cover plate 54 to permit freedom of movement of the pull string 32as it extends through the motor cover plate 54 and is driven through anarc movement by the reset arm 48.

The tone arm 62 comprises three separate and relatively movable partswhich can be seen in detail in FIGS. 5, 7 and 8. The tone arm 62 has adog-legged shaped elongated body 96 with a mounting post 98 at one endand a stylus or needle mounting arm 104 at the other end. The dog-leggedshape insures a tangential alignment of the stylus mounting arm 104 withthe record tracks to optimize the pickup of sound indicia from apush-pull or horizontal side to side cut record groove. The tone arm 62is molded of plastic and has a "living hinge" or flexure necked-downportion 100 connecting the mounting post 98 with the elongated body 96.The mounting post 98 includes the bore 80 for receiving the mountingstud 78 from the lower housing member 86. The flexure of "living hinges"100 are known in the prior art of plastic molding and in essencecomprise a thin necked-down portion approximately 15 to 20 thousandthsof an inch in thickness and 30 thousandths of an inch in width that isrelatively free of stress and backlash and is capable of a large numberof repetitive pivotal movements. Of prime importance the flexure hinges100 are capable of translating all the motion imposed on the hinge, thatis, it will not lose any sound indicia.

The elongated body 96 has essentially a U-shaped cross sectionalconfiguration with the bottom surface relatively open. Mounted withinthe elongated body 96 and connected to the mounting post 98 is a tonearm spring 102. The purpose of the tone arm spring 102 is to insure adownward pressure or force on the stylus mounting arm 104 when themounting post 98 is restrained in movement by the mounting stud 78.

The stylus mounting arm 104 is connected to the elongated body 96 by apair of living hinges 106. The living hinges 106 permit a stylus orrecord needle 108 mounted in the stylus mounting arm 104 to have arelatively free pivotal movement independent from the elongated body 96.This is accomplished by mounting the stylus 108 along the axis of theflexure hinges 106. Actually as can be seen from FIG. 7, it is thecontact point of the stylus 108 with the record which should optimallybe in the vertical plane of the two hinges 106 to effectively minimizeany mechanical coupling of the sound indicia into the tone arm 62. Theparticular use of the no lost motion flexure hinges 106 permits thestylus 108 and mounting arm 104 to provide a bell crank effect inconverting the lateral or horizontal needle motion to a vertical linkagemotion to the speaker cone 6. Interestingly, this tone arm arrangementcan also perform satisfactorily with a record groove cut with a hill anddale or vertical sound indicia arrangement upon an appropriatere-alignment of the tone arm 90 degrees rotated from the disclosedembodiment relative to the record groove.

As can be seen from FIG. 7, a camming ramp 110 is provided on the stylusmounting arm 104 to extend adjacent the pointed end of the stylus 108.The camming ramp 110 is so positioned relative to the tip of the stylus108 and the relative height of the interface area of two concentricrecords to contact the edge of the upper record when the stylus 108tracks off the upper record and to translate the stylus 108 independentof the record's interface onto the lower record. Thus, the camming ramp110 permits the stylus 108 to track across two concentric recordswithout becoming stuck or captured in the opening or interface of therecords.

A female ball joint or coupling member 112 is designed to provide aswivel connection with a male speaker link 114. The speaker link 114comprises a rod-like body having a spherical ball 116 mounted at eitherend of the link body. It has been found desirable to utilize arelatively light weight plastic such as a polypropylene having aspecific gravity of about 0.9 for the link 114. While heavier plasticshave better sound transmission characteristics, their heavier massadversely effects the linkage system of the present invention. Therespective ball portions 116 of the speaker link 114 are adapted to bemounted respectively in the joint or coupling member 112 of the stylusmounting arm 104 and the female joint 12 at the apex or tip of thespeaker cone 6. The effect of the ball and joint coupling permits auniversal motion to the speaker link 114 while efficiently transmittingall of the sound vibrations that are induced into the stylus mountingarm 104 via the record stylus 108. The female coupling joint 112 canfurther be of a split ring configuration (not shown) to further insure apressure bias on the coupling joint 112 that prevents any loss of soundindicia motion.

A combination string spool and sun gear 118 has a central bore opening120 of a cross bar configuration. The lower portion of the spool 118carries the sun gear 122. A flange 124 retains the pull string 32 as itprogressively rewinds on the spool during the voice reproductionoperation of the voice unit 2.

While it is possible to utilize many features of the present inventionon a single turntable voice unit, the following disclosure is directedto its application on a dual turntable voice unit. An inner turntable126 has a central cavity or bore 128 for receiving and being held inposition by the particular mounting of the string spool 118. Referringto FIG. 2A, the underside of the inner turntable 126 has an innerprotruding annular rail or carrier member 130 terminating at one end inan enlarged tooth member 132 and at the other end in a gear retainingwall 134. The outer edge of the inner turntable 126 has a cylindricalbearing rim 140.

Referring to FIG. 3, the inner turntable 126 is adapted to be mountedrecessed within the cavity of an outer turntable 136 for concentricrelative rotation. A shoulder portion 138 on the outer turntable 136seats the outer peripheral bearing rim 140 of the inner turntable 126 ata spaced apart distance from the outer turntable 136. A mounting flange146 is centrally located in the outer turntable 136 cavity for seatingthe string spool 118 as shown in FIG. 4. The periphery of the outerturntable 136 can have an annular groove 148 for receiving an O-ringrubber drive belt 150. Alternatively, a record can be mounted on theturntable 136 and form one flange of the groove 150. The respectiveinner and outer turntables 126 and 136 can be made of nylon and havesound tracks or grooves, as shown in FIG. 7, directly cut onto theturntable disk faces and thereby remove the necessity of recordscompletely.

The annular rail or carrier member 130 extends downward into thesecondary cavity of the outer turntable 136 adjacent a ring gear portion142 of the outer turntable 136. A planetary gear 144 is restrainedwithin the secondary cavity of the outer turntable 136 between the toothmember 132 and the gear retaining wall 134. The operation of theplanetary gear 144 which can permit relative rotation between the innerturntable 126 and the outer turntable 136 will be subsequentlydescribed.

A spring spindle 152 has a lower cylindrical portion 154 for supportinga constant tension main spring 156. A shaft 158 extends upward from thering portion 154 to provide a complementary cross bar shape forreceiving the bore 120 on the string spool 118. A circular stud 160 onthe shaft 158 is adapted to be received within the alignment hole 88 ofthe motor cover plate 54. A rivet or the like 162 can be utilized tofasten the main spring 156 to the ring portion 154 of the spring spindle152. The constant tension coil 164 of the main spring 156 is adapted tobe received within a retaining cavity 166 in the lower bottom housing86. Mylar washers (not shown) can be utilized on either side of the mainspring 156 to isolate any sharp edges from contact with plasticcomponents.

A governor assembly 168 includes a mounting shaft 170 supporting acentral mounting flange 172 that pivotally mounts a pair of brake shoes174 and 176. Each brake shoe carries a respective brake pad 178 whichcan be simply a felt pad for frictionally bearing against the inner wallof the governor member 92 on the motor cover plate 54. An upper studmember 180 on the shaft 170 is adapted to be positioned within thealignment hole 90 on the governor housing member 92.

A guide roller 182 having a central annular groove about its surface isadapted to be mounted on a stud support 184 extending from the surfaceof the lower bottom housing 86. An adjacent stud 186 centrally locatedwithin the governor cavity wall 188 of the lower housing member 86 isdesigned to fit within a bore (not shown) in the mounting shaft 170. Thedrive belt 150 is operatively mounted on the groove 148 of the outerturntable 136 and extends around the mounting shaft 170. The guideroller 182 tensions the drive belt 150 between the mounting shaft 170and the outer turntable 136 and further increases the effective wrapabout the shaft 170. When the governor assembly 168 is rotated by thedrive belt 150, during the operation of the respective turntables 136and 126, each of the governor brake shoes 174 and 176 pivot away fromtheir mounting flange 172 as a result of the centrifugal forces exertedupon them. The brake shoes 174 and 176 may optionally have a springbiasing them against the mounting flange 172. The pivoting motion forcesthe brake pads 178 to bear against the inner wall of the governorhousing 92 and thereby regulate the rotational speed of the respectiveturntables. Centrally mounted within the spring spindle cavity 190 is astud 192 for receiving the spring spindle 152.

A plurality of tubular columns 194 having central bores 196 are adaptedto receive fastening screws (not shown) therethrough for connection withthe securement columns 20 on the upper housing member 10. Alternatively,the upper and lower housing members can be held together by a solventadhesive.

A bearing wall 198 extends upward from the bottom housing member 86 tosupport the end of the pawl 58 of the reset arm 48. The lower bottomhousing wall 200 further provides a shoulder 202 for receiving an edgeof the upper housing outer wall 24. Internal shoulder 22 on the upperhousing member 10 receives the rim 204 of the lower bottom housingmember 86. A lower ramp 206 has an appropriate half-circular notch 208to coact with the upper ramp 28 for forming a stop for the pull ring 34.

COMPONENT OPERATION: 1. Tone Arm Operation:

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 8, the tone arm 62 is disclosed in itsoperative mode. As noted earlier, the tone arm 62 comprises an elongatedbody member 96 having a hinged mounting post 98 at one end and a stylusmounting arm 104 at the other end. A flexure or "living hinge" 100connects the mounting post 98 with the elongated body 96. Basically, a"living hinge" is a necked down or thin section of plastic that has aminimal amount of plastic memorey or "set" relative to its designeddirection of rotation. The necked down section is relatively free ofstresses and capable of a large number of cyclic operations, well withinthe normal life of the tone arm 62 without losing any voice indiciamotion transmitted across the hinge. A tone arm spring 102 isinterconnected between an ear portion 220 of the mounting post member 98and a mounting stem 222 on the elongated body member 96. The tone armspring 102 creates a bias or downward force of about 50 grams thatprovides the proper tension force to the stylus 108.

As can be appreciated by the particular mounting of the tone arm spring102, the elongated body portion 96 can have a relatively large degree ofmovement in the vertical plane compared to the mounting post 98 on itsstud 72 while still providing a relatively constant spring tension orforce on the stylus 108. Thus, as the stylus or needle 108 is translatedby a camming action from the outer record 228 to the inner record 230independent of the interfacing gap, that is horizontally inward andvertically downward, the relative relaxation of the tension in the tonearm spring 102 is minute and the respective tone arm force translated tothe stylus or needle 108 remains virtually constant from the outer tothe inner records.

By providing the pair of flexure or living hinges 106 between the stylusmounting arm 104 and the elongated tone arm body 96, the presentinvention insures a relative free movement of the stylus or needle 108for tracking the sound path in the appropriate spiral groove track andfurther translating this movement along the arm 104 to the speaker cone6 through the speaker link 114. As mentioned earlier, the stylus pointcontact in the vertical plane of the pair of flexure hinges 106minimizes any sound indicia movement coupling into the tone arm 62.

A cam follower arm 224 is provided on the surface of the tone armelongated body member 96 for contact with the reset arm 48. In addition,an arcuate shaped stop member 226 is also provided on the body member96. The reset arm pawl 94 is designed to move between the cam followerarm 224 and the arcuate stop member 226 depending upon the tensionexerted on the pull string 32. The contact of the pawl 58 with thearcuate stop member 226 further insures a stable or relatively vibrationfree state for the tone arm 62 to help insure an isolation of thespeaker linkage system from the rest of the voice unit 2. While notnecessary, a grease such as silicone grease can be provided on theinterface of the pawl 58 and the stop member 226.

Referring to FIG. 8, the relative position of the tone arm 62 and thereset arm 48 are disclosed in various operative modes. The solid drawinglines disclose the relative position of the tone arm 62 and the resetarm 48 at their end of travel in a rest position after playing onediscrete sequence of combined sounds from the inner and outer records.The dotted lines disclose the relative positions after the pull string32 has been extended to its full length. The reset spring 46 tends tobias the reset arm 48 to that position shown in the solid lines of FIG.8. While not shown, it would be possible to design the reset arm 48 withan integral plastic spring which would eliminate the need for an extrasteel wire spring 46.

During the initial tensioning of the pull string 32, the reset arm 48 isrotated and the cam ramp 56 contacts the cam follower arm 224 on thetone arm 62 to raise the tone arm 62 and correspondingly the stylus orneedle 108 from contact with an inner record 230 shown in FIG. 6. As thetension force on the pull string 32 overcomes the bias of the reset armspring 46, the cam ramp 56 pivots the tone arm 62 to the desired initialoperative position as shown in the trace lines of FIG. 8. The pawl 58 ofthe reset arm 48 is supported throughout its travel on a bearing wall198 extending upward from the lower housing member 86. When the tensionon the pull string 32 is released, the reset spring 46 forces thearcuate outer surface of the pawl 58 against the arcuate stop member 226on the tone arm 62. In this position, the tone arm 62 is free to trackinwardly on the spiral grooves respectively on the inner and outerrecords.

2. Planetary Gear Operation:

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6, when an operator pulls the string 32, herotates the spring spindle 152 which, in turn, unwinds or reverse windsthe coil 164 of the negator or constant tension main spring 156. Thecoil 164 has been stored or held passive in a retaining cavity 166 onthe lower bottom housing member 86 partially disclosed in FIG. 3. Sincethe spring spindle 152 is interconnected via the shaft 158 with thestring spool 118, the sun gear 122 portion of the string spool 118 isrotated with the movement of the pull string 32. This rotation of thesun gear 118 in turn drives the planetary gear 144. The planetary gear144 is disclosed in FIG. 6 in its relatively free rotatable state insolid lines and also in its locked state in dotted trace lines.

During the pulling of the string 32, the planetary gear 144 is driven torotatably contact the gear retaining wall 134 of the inner turntable 126which can be seen in more detail in FIG. 2A. The orbiting motion of theplanetary gear 144 about the center of axis of the sun gear 122 isdirectly translated via the gear retaining wall 134 to the innerturntable 126 and accordingly rotates the inner turntable 126. The ringgear portion 142 of the outer turntable 136 and the turntable itselfremains relatively stationary due to both inertia and friction forcesbetween the governor assembly 168, the drive belt 150, the guide roller182 and the outer groove 148 of the outer turntable 136. As the pullstring 32 is removed from its spool 118 and, in turn, rotates the sungear 122 the inner turntable 126 likewise rotates relative to the outerturntable 136 as determined by the gear ratio. This rotation can insurepositioning of any inner record spiral grooves 212 relative to outerring record spiral grooves 210 if the dual turntable embodiment of theinvention is used.

When the pull string 32 is released by the operator, the negator orconstant tension spring 156 seeks to return to a coiled position andaccordingly drives the spring spindle 152 in an opposite direction.Again, the string spool 118 and sun gear 122 are likewise driven andthis causes the planetary gear 144 to orbit in the opposite direction.When the planetary gear 144 contacts the tooth member 132 of the carrierportion as shown in the trace lines of FIG. 6, the planetary gear 144serves to relatively lock the ring gear 142 and accordingly the outerturntable 136 to the inner turntable 126. The stored force in theconstant tension spring 156 is sufficient to overcome the inertia andfrictional forces that previously held the outer turntable 136 andaccordingly the planetary gear 144, the inner turntable 126 and theouter turntable 136 are all orbited about the axis of the driving sungear 122.

With the inner and outer turntables relatively locked and driven, thestylus or needle 108 can accordingly track the appropriate sound groovesin the outer and inner records as they move relative to the tone arm 62.If it is desired to use a single turntable, either the outer or innerturntable could be utilized. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, it can be seenthat the outer turntable 136 could be enlarged and the inner turntable126 eliminated leaving only the carrier portion with the tooth member132 and the gear retaining wall 134.

3. Speed Control Mechanism:

Basically, the relative speed of one or more turntables is controlled bya centrifugal governor assembly 168. In addition, the use of a negatoror constant tension main spring 156 further provides some speed controlbecause of the relatively constant torque force. An applicable negatoror constant tension spring 156 can be purchased from the Hunter SpringCompany of Lansdale, Pa.

While it is possible to utilize other forms of governor assemblies suchas an air paddle, the preferred embodiment utilizes a pair of brakeshoes 174 and 176 which carry brake pads 178 for bearing against theinner wall surface of the governor housing 92. The governor assembly 168serves a secondary function as a fly weight in the drive system. Thus, aconstant rotation of speed of one or more turntables is achieved withthe use of a constant tension drive spring 156 and a centrifugalgovernor assembly 168 which is of the flywheel friction governor type.The speed control mechanism of the present invention is adequate tocontrol wow and flutter and to permit relatively good fidelity andvolume in the voice unit 2.

4. Speaker Cone System:

The speaker cone 6 is basically a thin conical plastic shell which canbe pressure or vacuum formed to provide a conical ball joint 12 at itsapex. A series of peripheral ring grooves 14 are provided to maximizethe peripheral flexibility of the speaker cone 6 and accordingly lowerthe resonance. The mechanical movement or vibrations from the recordingmedium which are converted into sound by the relative movement of thespeaker cone 6 are translated directly to the speaker cone 6 through itsconnection with the speaker link 114 and the ball joint apex 12. Thelower portion of the speaker link 114 is universally or swivelly coupledinto the coupling member 112 of the stylys mounting arm 104.

The stylus or needle 108 is mounted on the mounting arm 104 adjacent apair of flexure or living hinges 106 that pivotally connect the needlemounting arm 104 to the tone arm body 96. As the tip of the stylus orneedle 108 tracks a modulated spiral path along the walls of the recordgrooves, the side to side or horizontal movement is amplified as it istranslated to the speaker link 114 by virtue of the pivotal movement ofthe mounting arm 104. The elongated body 96 of the tone arm 62 providesa relatively stationary or stable platform by virtue of the pressurizedcontact of the pawl 58 with the arcuate tone arm stop member 226.Although not necessary, it is possible to utilize a grease connectionbetween the pawl 58 and the arcuate stop member 226 such as a siliconegrease.

The induced movement of the point of the stylus or needle 108 isadequately magnified and transmitted through the length of the needlemounting arm 104 and through the joint coupling member 112. Thespherical mounting or ball joint 12 at the apex of the speaker cone 6 issufficiently secure to provide a snap-in engagement with the speakerlink 114 and to adequately transmit all of the induced stylus pointmovement directly to the speaker cone 6. The rim 18 of the top housing10 with the assistance of either the speaker grill 4 or by itself withan appropriate adhesive further provides a stable or stationary base forthe suspension of the speaker cone 6.

5. Operation of the Voice Unit

The operation of the voice unit 2 will be described with reference tothe dual turntable arrangement disclosed in the drawings although itshould be realized that a single turntable could also be utilized.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 6 and 7, the inner turntable 126 is mounted withinthe outer turntable 136 and is free to move relative to the outerturntable 136 in one direction during the pulling of the pull string 32while being held fast in the other direction during the soundreproduction. The respective surfaces of each of the turntables cansupport an appropriate spirally grooved record disk as shown in FIG. 6.Generally, the turntables 126 and 136 will be made from a nylon materialand can as a highly advantageous alternative embodiment have a pluralityof individual interleaving spiral grooves 232 cut directly into therespective turntable surfaces as shown in FIG. 7, thus removing thenecessity of separate record disks.

FIG. 6 is shown with a pair of concentric flat record discs 228 and 230,but it should be understood that inner and outer turntables 126' and136' can carry the sound tracks.

Each of the sound grooves will provide a separate sound track on whichcan be recorded a distinctive sound such as a phrase or part of asentence. The sound tracks on the outer record 228 can each introduce orstart a sentence while the distinctive sounds recorded on the innerspiral record grooves 212 of the inner record 230 can be complementaryto any one of the outer sounds and thus finish the sentence. Thus, as anillustration, one of the outer spiral record grooves 210 can contain thephrase "Baby wants" while any one of the inner spiral record grooves 212will have a complementary phrase such as "a new red bicycle", "a friendto play with", "a new dress for Christmas". As can be readilyappreciated, the total number of distinct complete sound sequencescapable of being reproduced on the voice unit 2 is a function of thenumber of outer spiral record grooves 210 multiplied by the number ofthe inner spiral grooves 212.

Since the spiral record grooves 210 have initial starting positionsstaggered about the outer periphery edge, the production of sound willbegin promptly upon a release of the pull string 32 after it is pulledby the operator.

The spiral sound tracks can be of either a horizontal lateral indiciagroove system or even a hill-and-dale type. Generally, the lateralhorizontal groove system has a higher sound fidelity potential, sincethe stylus or needle 108 is both pushed and pulled in the horizontalplane instead of being only pushed upward in the vertical plane. It isbelieved that most voice units in the prior art have been forced toaccept a hill-and-dale system since they were generally incapable ofproviding a relatively inexpensive but efficient voice unit with aside-to-side arrangement.

The outer record 228 has its spiral record grooves 210 starting from theouter peripheral edge and terminating directly at the inner peripheralrecord edge to let the stylus point fall off of the outer record 228under the pressure of spring 102. This particular arrangement of groovesis believed to be unique and facilitates the movement of the stylus orneedle 108 from the outer record 228 onto the inner ring record 230. Theinner record 230 likewise has similarly arranged spiral grooves 212which can conveniently end on a respective common inner peripheralgroove (not shown).

Referring to FIG. 7, the camming ramp 110 on the stylus or needlemounting arm 104 insures that the stylus or needle 108 will not becomestuck in the gap existing between the inner record 230 and the outerrecord 228. The camming ramp 110 is proportioned to contact the inneredge of the outer record 228 and to translate the stylus 108 as itpasses or falls off of the inner edge of the outer record 228. Byproviding for the particular camming translation of the stylus 108, therelative alignment of the inner edge of the outer record 228 and theouter edge of the inner record 230 need not be precise or even close inproximity. Likewise, the turntables 126' and 136' shown in FIG. 7 can beroughly aligned during assembly since the stylus point is effectivelylifted over and inwardly across the outer peripheral edge of turntable126' and will not become trapped by the interface gap between theturntables or records. The translation is relatively quick and does notinterfere with the continuity of the complete voice sequence perceivedby the listener which includes the sounds of the inner and outer recordscombined. The exact shape of the camming surface or ramp 110 isdetermined as a function of the relative vertical height between therecords or turntables and the desired horizontal translation distance.

When an operator grasps the ring 34 of the pull string 32 and pulls itaway from the combined voice unit housing members 10 and 86 he alsoturns the string spool 118 and correspondingly the string spindle 152 toreverse wind the negator or the constant tension spring 156 from itsspiral coiled position to a position about the ring portion 154 of thestring spindle 152. During this operation, the tension of the string 132pulls the reset arm 48, as shown in FIG. 8, to reset the tone arm 62adjacent the outer peripheral edge of the outer record 228. During thepulling operation of the pull string 32, the inner turntable 126 and itscorresponding inner record disk 230 can be rotated relative to the outerturntable 136 and the outer record 228. Upon release of the pull string32, the constant tension spring 156 releases its energy to drive boththe inner and outer turntables 126 and 136 and their correspondingrecords at the same speed.

It should be realized that the voice unit 2 of the present invention canaccommodate various indexing systems or mechanisms to permit theoperator to discretely select a particular sound track or combination ofsound tracks.

Various modifications of the other features of the present invention arepossible by a person skilled in the art. For example, FIG. 9 disclosesan alternative embodiment of the present invention wherein themechanical linkage system between the stylus mounting arm 104 and thespeaker cone 6 includes a pair of flexure or "living" hinges 236 and 238instead of the respective ball and joint couplings 12 and 112. Thespeaker cone 6' is appropriately modified to be secured to the linkportion 114' and the link portion 114' can be bifurcated to facilitatemolding. The axis or plane about which the hinges 236 and 238 rotate theappropriately aligned with the pivot point of the tone arm 62. Thisarrangement facilitates assembly and permits an integral molding of thelinkage system.

It should be noted that various modifications can be made to theapparatus while still remaining within the purview of the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sound unit speaker system for producing soundsequences from a recording medium having sound indicia, comprising aspeaker member having a generally cone configuration to the apex ofwhich a coupling element is joined, a vertically positioned link, oneend of which is interconnected to said coupling element, a sound pick-upassembly connected to said link including a tone arm body member mountedfor lateral and pivotal movement relative to said recording medium, astylus mounting arm interconnected to said body member, flexure meanshingedly interconnecting the stylus mounting arm to the body memberalong a hinge axis so as to provide for relative movement therebetween,a stylus mounted on said mounting arm adjacent to the hinge axis of saidflexure means, said stylus mounting arm having a receiving portionlocated in spaced relation from said hinge axis of said stylus mountingarm for receiving an end of said link for engagement therewith, so thatsaid link is responsive to movement of said stylus for transmittingsound indicia motion from said stylus through said link to said speakermember.
 2. A sound unit speaker system as claimed in claim 1, saidflexure means being defined by a connection between said tone arm bodymember and stylus mounting arm that is reduced in cross section topermit hinging movement of said stylus mounting arm relative to saidtone arm body member.
 3. a sound unit speaker system as claimed in claim2, said flexure means including spaced connections between which saidstylus is located.
 4. A sound unit speaker system as claimed in claim 1,said receiving portion being defined by a socket and an end of said linkhaving a ball member that is receivable in said socket in soundtransmitting relation.
 5. A sound unit speaker system as claimed inclaim 4, the longitudinal axis of said stylus mounting arm being inalignement with the vertical axes of said socket and said stylus.
 6. Asound unit speaker system as claimed in claim 1, said tone arm bodymember having an end located remote from the end on which said stylusmounting arm is mounted that mounts said tone arm body member for thepivotal and lateral movement thereof.
 7. A sound unit speaker system asclaimed in claim 64, a hinge of reduced cross section separating themounting end of said tone arm body member from the remainder thereof. 8.A sound unit speaker system as claimed in claim 7, the portion of thetone arm body member to which the mounting end thereof is joined beingdisposed in angular relation relative to the portion of the tone armbody member to which said stylus mounting arm is joined.